Abstract:
Fundamental inefficiency of existing foam fire systems extinguishing tanks with oil and petroleum products having a volume of 5000 m$^{3}$ or more is shown by methods of mathematical modeling. The required foam supply intensity and foam supply rate allowing effective fire suppression in large tanks with a volume of up to 20000 m$^{3}$ are theoretically predicted. On this basis of theoretical conclusions, a new method of foam fire extinguishing in large fuel tanks has been developed. To obtain the required intensities and supply rates, fire extinguishing foam is formed in a special container with the use of solid-fuel gas generators. The theoretical predictions were confirmed in 21 full-scale successful experiments, in which fire suppresion system based on the new method was able to extinguish a fully developed gasoline fire in tanks with a volume of 5000 m$^{3}$ and 20 000 m$^{3}$ just for 30-90 seconds. The required amount of the foaming agent to extinguish a fire in a 20 000 m$^{3}$ tank is only 450 liters, which is at least 100 times less than for traditional foam fire fighting Contribution of the authors: the authors contributed equally to this article. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.
Keywords:foam, fire extinguishing, large fuel tanks.
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